The Lao Brewery Company Ltd. (LBC) (ບໍລິສັດ ເບຍລາວ ຈໍາກັດ Bolisad Beerlao Chamkad) is a producer of beer, soft drinks, and bottled drinking water in Laos.[1] It is headquartered in Vientiane.
History
Founded in 1971, the Lao Brewery Company was at that time a joint-venture between French and Lao businessmen. It took up production in 1973 with a capacity of 3 million litres per year. The company, then called Brasseries et Glacières du Laos (BGL), marketed Bière Larue for the local market and "33" export for export (to countries in Indochina).
With the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Laos in 1975, the company was nationalised and obtained the status of a state-owned enterprise. It marketed its beer first under the Bière Lao brand, then (early 1995) as Beerlao. Their brand "33" export was marketed till 1990, and Bière Larue until 1995.
In the wake of the 1986 economic reform program, which initiated a transition from central planning to a market economy and the launching of the New Economic Mechanism (NEM), the LBC in 1993 entered into a joint venture: 49% Lao government-owned with 51% foreign investment (Loxley: 25.5%[2]